nLAN¶

Layer-2 bridging across the Torus mesh. Multiple member peers, one broadcast domain. Useful when retro hardware needs to think it's on the same physical LAN.

Where it lives

Sidebar: VXLAN. Section ID: virtual-lan-section. Admin counterpart: admin/nlan.md.

Why this exists¶

Some retro protocols are LAN-broadcast-bound — IPX/SPX (DOS games), AppleTalk (early Mac), NetBEUI (Windows-for-Workgroups), some 90s-era SCSI-over-network kits. They don't survive layer-3 routing because they don't know how. nLAN bridges them across geographically-separated peers.

Common uses:

Retro game LAN parties with people on different continents
Multi-site Samba with broadcast browsing
Cluster of retro Macs running AppleShare
DOS / OS/2 / Windows 3.11 that "should be on the same LAN"

How you participate¶

There are two roles in any nLAN network:

Owner — Pro member who created the network. Manages the member list.
Member — anyone the owner has added. Can be Basic+.

Once you're added, you get a VXLAN tunnel endpoint and a virtual ethernet interface. Bridge it to whatever local interface your retro hardware lives on, and the broadcast domain extends across.

Member operations¶

Joining a network¶

You can't join directly — the owner has to add you. Drop them a message, give them your username + Torus IP. They'll add you, and the platform notifies you. Re-download your Torus config (the new VXLAN routing needs to be in AllowedIPs).

Creating a network (Pro only)¶

Create new nLAN button on this page. Fill:

Name — short, memorable. retro-lan-party, amiga-mesh.
Members — usernames to add initially. You can add more later.
Use case — free-form description for admin approval.

Submit → admin queue → approved (usually within 24h) → bridge provisioned across all member hubs.

Adding / removing members¶

From your owned-network panel, add member / remove member. Removed members lose access immediately; their next Torus reconnect won't see the bridge.

Killing a network¶

Delete network from your owned-network panel. Confirms, removes bridge from all hubs, releases the VNI. Members get a notification.

Technical knobs¶

MTU defaults to 1280 (matches WG). Bump to 1340 only if you need full L2 ethernet frame sizes; lower MTU is friendlier to mobile networks.
VNI is auto-allocated from the 1025–1999 pool. You don't pick.
Bridge protocol — pure VXLAN with no STP (loop avoidance is your responsibility; don't bridge two nLAN networks to the same physical segment).

Troubleshooting¶

Bridge is up but broadcasts don't traverse

Usually MTU. Try MTU = 1200 on the bridge interface; if that fixes it, the path has a smaller MTU than expected.

Member can ping bridge interface but not other peers

Re-download Torus config — the VXLAN sub-interface needs to be in AllowedIPs.